Page 78 of Forgive Not Forget
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
“Ring us if you need anything, anything at all, night or day, okay?”
Laura pulled Anna into a tender hug. “I will, thanks.”
* * *
As she entered the hall at Abbey House, Anna was greeted by Virginia, who was just coming down the stairs.
“Sorry, Virginia. Did I wake you?” A quick tickle under the cat’s neck enticed her chin out. Anna hated it when she did that. Either she’d have to commit to a few minutes of petting or leave Virginia disappointed with her chin out, which was never a good look for a cat. “I bet you’ve slept through all of this — and no doubt on our bed.”
She left their belongings in the hallway, hoping she wouldn’t receive a telling-off from Katherine later. There was a mountain of work awaiting her at the office, and she was desperate to get to Abbey Barn to get it cleared. She was followed back out the front door by Virginia, who shot across the gravel drive and onto the high street.
Mark’s team were pulling into the car park as Anna reached it; Katherine must have called him immediately. She hurried along the path to her office in the hope she wouldn’t have to talk to him.
When she finally settled into her office with a cup of peppermint tea, her phone pinged. It was a text from Katherine to say that as the abbey was staying closed for the day, she was going to work from home and deal with some personal matters. Anna hoped they would include contacting the prison; she’d texted Katherine the photograph of the letter she had taken. Katherine suggested Anna stay on-site in case any visitors turned up not realising they were closed and to deal with the gardeners who were on their way to confront the enormous crater on the grounds. So much for a day spent hiding in her office and clearing a backlog.
She finally kicked off her shoes in Abbey House at five o’clock, pleased to return to a familiar routine and surroundings. Katherine was in the kitchen, filling a teapot.
“Hey. It’s nice to be home. Did you manage to get much done?”
Katherine rubbed at the side of her head. “My ear is literally burning from the number of phone calls I’ve made today. Everyone has been informed we are back to normal tomorrow, and I called Becks.”
“What did she say?”
“That she had been expecting my call.”
Anna chuckled. “I told you so.”
“Hmm.” Katherine twisted her lips as she placed two mugs on the work surface. “Tea?”
“Please.”
“I’ve responded to the letter from the prison too. There was a phone number on there, so I thought it was best to ring.”
“So you couldn’t back out.”
“Something like that… perhaps,” Katherine said, narrowing her eyes at Anna. “I got through to the facilitator who’s dealing with it, and we had a very long chat. She talked me through everything, what to expect, how things work. She asked me lots of questions. We went over what I wanted to get out of it and whathewanted to get out of it.”
“That all sounds promising.”
Katherine nodded. “It doesn’t stop me feeling incredibly nervous about it.”
“Well that’s to be expected. And you have these if you need them.” Anna tapped the half empty box of beta blockers that was still on the work surface. “I have more.”
“Thank you, but I think I will book an appointment at the surgery.”
Anna nodded her agreement. This was progress.
“She said she needed to weigh up everything we’d spoken about before confirming if she thought a meeting in person was the right way forward. She said she’d let me know in a few days.”
“Can I ask what his name is? We’ve never really spoken about him before.” She held up a hand. “But only if you’re okay with that.”
“I’m okay with it. Jeremy,” Katherine replied, taking a stool at the island. “Jeremy Thacker is his name. There’s not much to know… not much I wanted to know. He was a retail manager of a shopping centre. Wife, one child, I believe. He got blinding drunk after an argument with his wife and decided he hadn’t had enough and needed to go out for more. Then he killed my wife and child.”
Anna placed a hand on Katherine’s shoulder and watched as she picked at her fingers. She didn’t know what to say in response. With nothing forthcoming from Katherine, she decided it might be best to change the subject.
“What was the call this morning when I left? Was it good news?”
